This is a true story of a very depressed and grieving mama cat, brought back to a happy maternal state thanks to some very loving people involved in the rescue and foster care of cats, complete with gorgeous photos of this miraculous match. (Here and at the end.)

Mikey, an eight month old cat, was inconsolable. She had three kittens, born too early. They were weak and one by one, they died. Mikey’s owner Hillary tried everything she could think of to save the babies.

After the last of Mikey’s kitten’s passed away the cat was searching frantically for her offspring, acted very depressed, and her breasts were engorged with milk.

Watching her cat suffer, Hillary was desperate for help and called Dori’s Darlings, a cat rescue organization run by Dori Hillman in Houston.

This is where Amanda Lowe comes in. She is a foster mother to abandoned kittens, through Dori’s Darlings. Just days before Mikey lost her last kitten, Amanda received three baby kittens to foster that were just a few days old, that still had their umbilical cords attached.

Amanda and another foster, Kelli Nicole, provided around the clock care for the three kittens, who she named Teddy, Abby, and Lily for four days. That’s when Amanda received the call from Dori about Mikey losing her brood of kittens.

Reaching out to Hillary immediately, Amanda offered to bring the kittens to Mikey the cat that same evening. After a conversation, they decided Mikey could make it through the night and Amanda went to her first thing the next morning.

Before showing Mikey the kittens, Amanda, who says she talks to cats and animals all the time, told Mikey how sorry she was about her babies.

Speaking to her in a soothing voice, Amanda told Mikey the cat, “I have some babies for you so you can be a mommy again.”

Amanda said she could tell Mikey liked her and trusted her, and then she placed the kittens in front of the mama cat.

Immediately, Mikey started licking them, grabbing them, hugging them. Around 15 minutes later, the cat spread out and rolled over giving the three kittens a nursing invitation.

Lily was the first to latch on.

After two hours, Amanda knew that with Mikey cuddling her new kittens, bathing them, and falling asleep with them, that she was leaving a very happy mama cat and giving the abandoned kittens a new home. She said they even looked like they belonged to one another.

As Amanda explained, the kittens are more important for Mikey, as lots of kittens are raised by human foster moms. “This was just an awful thing she went through (losing all of her babies) and this will be healing for her,” Amanda explained.

Here are some beautiful photos of this heartwarming rescue operation, all taken by Kelli Nicole, who is a professional photographer.